have critics fuming. a san francisco-based media company suddenly sold the surprising buyer's workers' worry about their future. and surveillance video of a man running from a crime. what police say he did to a helpless animal. >> complete bay area news coverage starts right now. this is bay area news at 7:00. it's wednesday, january 2nd. i'm maureen naylor in for gasia tonight and this is bay area news at 7:00. the new year begins with a big bang on wall street thanks to a large part to a new tax deal that averts the fiscal cliff. stocks today scored their larger gains in more than a year. the dow gained 308 points. the nasdaq sored 92, a gain of more than 3%. over the past two trading sessions, the dow is up 474 points. that's a boost of more than 3 and a half percent in just two days. over the entire year of 2012, the dow gained 7%. continuing coverage now from reporter brian todd and some of

the questionable tax perks contained in the deal. >> the tax perks for some industries that have been extended in this might just make you blow a gasket like gaskets found on nascar tracks which because of this bill will have plenty of money to clean those up. the cliff deal has a tax break worth about $70 million for the next two years. >> motor sports entertainment complexes, what are we talking about here. >> we're talking about places where races o kaur. >> the building of tracks. >> the building of tracks, perhaps the renovation of a track. >> do they need that kind of a break. >> doesn't matter whether they need it or not; they' managed to get it. >> what do you think of this, extending the tax credit for another year at a cost of $59 million for algae growers and others who are trying to produce something called cellulocic biofuel, fuels made from grasses, trees and algae. here's what toment of the groups citizens against government waste says about that.

>> pretty outrageous to you. >> absolutely. >> why. >> thoos product that has not been used commercially yet in the united states. >> professor patrick of the university of maryland says that's true, but as someone who's spent years researching how to turn algae into fuel, he says it's worth trying. >> algae actually grows faster than any other kind of plant. that's why it may well be the best source as a feed stock for biofuel. >> why when all the arguments during the cliff crisis were over responsible budgeting was all this include sgld they just didn't have enough time. these tax breaks, the easy thing to do was simply to extend them. these aren't new. >> and more details now on how the actions in washington might affect your pocketbook in the year ahead. even though congress made a deal keeping income taxes stable on americans less than $4 hun thousand a year, likely your paycheck may shrink. that's because a 2% social security payroll tax that was temporarily waived two years ago is now back in effect. in the bay area a couple

making a hun thousand dollars a year taking a $2,000 cut in that income is massive. it's completely different than in other parts of the country where a hun thousand dollars really goes a long way. >> americans making $30,000 a year will see about $6 hun trimmed from their checks. for those with an income of $70,000, the amount will be about $1,400 annually. even with last night's fill, the u.s. government still spending a lot more money than it takes in. congress sets limits on the federal debt and a limit that has been raised 94 times in the last 69 years. it now stands at $16.4 trillion, more than the entire economic output of the u.s. for a year, and in oo few weeks, another battle will likely be fought to raise it even higher. ktvu.com has more coverage of the fiscal cliff teal along with today's banner day on wall streechlt look for the links under the fiscal cliff tab on our home page. america's next congress is about to be sworn in ahead in 12 minutes, moving day for one bay

area freshman congressman and the big day for him tomorrow. secretary of state hilary clinton was dischargeed from the hospital a few hours achlth secretary clinton, along with her husband bill and daughter chelsea, got into a black van at new york's presbyterian hospital. the secretary of state is being treated for -- with blood thinners after the discovery of a blood clot between her skull and her brain. the state department say nos date has been set for her return to work but she's been in touch with her staff and keeping up with reports. new at 7:00, a block buster media deal. middle east-based al-jazeera is buying san francisco's current tv. john is live in san francisco with what he learned about the acquisition. john. >> maureen, this is the san francisco headquarters of current tv which now has an uncertain future. late this afternoon we confirmed that the tv network has been sold for $400 million. >> current tv sits across from the home of the san francisco giants, but it's failed to score big with viewers.

now, it's been sold to a well-known middle east-based network. in a statement today cofounder and former vice president al gor said we are proud and pleased that al-jazeera has bought current tv. >> they don't want current. they want the cable slot that current has. >> professor ed is the new dean of uc berkeley graduate school. he said the network had trouble gaining viewers, but because it reaches current or at least it's placed on the cable and satellite lineups could be exactly what al-jazeera need sdmrs they've had a very very difficult time getting traction in the american cable system. initially that was because they developed a reputation. it was kind of toxic after the first gulf war. >> the likely end result of the sale, current tv becomes al-jazeera america. >> qatar is the country from which where al-jazeera is based. it is considered a moderate country. it has enormous u.s. ties, including a massive base. >> california republican party chair tom was a guest on current numerous times.

>> they are so different from the other voices out there that i think they will probably be able to find some following among our viewers in america. >> it is unclear what will happen at current's san francisco offices. two current employees told me this afternoon that they are concerned. they'll soon be looking for work. live in san francisco, i'm john, ktvu channel 2 news. we are in for a chilly night in the bay area after some freezing temperatures earlier today. take a look at a bank thermometer here in walnut creek that read 29 degrees this morning. we saw freeze warnings in the north bay and very cold temperatures reported in napa, livermore, redwood city and morgan hill. meteorologist mark will have your complete forecast coming up at 7:23. relatives and friends of the two people killed by a car fleeing san francisco police today visited the spot where their loved ones died. a makeshift shrine marks the spot on south van ness and 21st street where the innocent victim, 29-year-old patrick coon

and 26-year-old francisco gi tier rez for killed on christmas morning. a sister shared her grief. >> it hurts. i saw him on the 31st, and i will never again see him. >> the car fleeing police smash spood the front of a liquor store. police identified the driver as 19-year-old david morales. he is in custody facing charges including attempted murder, evading police and being a felon in possession of a firearm. san francisco police released surveillance video today of a man suspected of robbing a woman in the tenderloin district and then killing her dog in spite. here's a look at the suspect as he ran from the scene at levinworth and golden gate avenue last friday. police say he'd just thrown the victim's small dog into traffic. the 12-year-old dog had to be put down because of her injuries. witness of the crime set up a reward fund for information and at last check it was up to $3,500. the water is back on in hayward tonight for about a hun customers who lost service today following what some public work

crews call the biggest water main break they've seen. crews say the trouble started around 3:30 this morning at the intersection of jackson and santa clara streets in hayward. they say the break happened where a pair of 12-inch water lines connect. recent rains and cold weather are getting the blame. >> the soil is saturated so with the cold, there is expansion of the -- and contraction of the soil and that causes all mains to break sometimes. we have had several small breaks all over town. this is the -- the biggest one we've had. >> the hayward public works department tells us water service was restored to all customers by early afternoon. and it wubt just hayward. elsewhere the east bay crews were called out to repair three more water line breaks. this afternoon in berkeley, east bay mud workers were patching ka mill yeah street after a 6-inch main broke there. crews were also called out to fix two smaller lines in beshg slee and one in oakland. construction resumed today near san francisco's union

square on the central subway project. contractors say stockton street will be close and had ellis street will only be partially open between stockton and the garage. when the project is completed it will carry mun i passengers between south and market and china town. theer ra of free parking meters on sunday is over. starting this sunday the city will charge for metered parking from noon until 6:00 p.m.. that will bring in an estimated $2 million per year in revenue. some tell us they agree with the city that the program will free up needed spaces but others worry it may drive away business. the city say it is first three sunsd san francisco parking officers will issue warnings while people get used to the idea. two hours ago said good-bye to its long-time marina district location. staff and fans of the hands-on science museum rang bells and

sang as the facility closed after 43 years at that location. this was the last day to visit the explore tore yum at the palace after fine arts before it moves to the water front. museum reopens in three months peer 15. in the meantime look for popup and mobile science activities around the city. state workers find plenty in their first survey of the season so why are they urging caution tonight? . plus a state of emergency over a vulnerable bay area le veechlt see what's needed right away. temperatures are dropping off rapidly right now. coming up the neighborhoods that will be in the upper 20s first thing thursday morning and when shower chances resurface on the five-day forecast

. two people escaped serious

jerry this afternoon when their small plane burst into flames in las vegas. it happened at the north las vegas airport at about 4:00 this afternoon. authorities say the twin engine aerostar skidded off one way and caught fire. the two people on board managed to get out before the cabin was engulfed in flames. there's no word tonight on just what exactly caused the accident. surviving children visited their new school for the first time today. this is coming and cleats the circle. that's what's missing right now. >> sdpunts parents attend abopen house at their new school in a neighboring town. the formal school had been unused for a year. now,itis been refurbished and renamed sandy hook elementary. klasses begin tomorrow with a light curriculum to ease the children back into a routine. police also have strengthened security on campus. the first-known survey of the season proved promising in the sierra, but it is still early. ken tells us why january could be a key month when it comes to

this year's snow pack. >> there is no doubt for the ski resorts this winter is working out just fine so far. sierra tahoe has large crowds and a healthy base of snow. >> we have 294 inches of snow. that's over halfway to our annual season snowfall total, which is 480 inches. >> but there is a difference between what's good for the resorts in terms of snow and what's good for our water supply. >> 48, 49. >> this is one of dozens of snow courses where today state hydrologists measured the snow pack for the first time this year. here, the snow is 4 feet deep with about a foot of water content. >> and that is almost right on its long-term average. that's 101% of its historic average. >> frank gurkey with the department of water resources calls the readings very encourageing and promising for water supply sdmrs off we go, another 50. >> last year in january, this field was devoid of snow, but

gurkey warns we've seen winters that start strong in january before. >> we've still got the majority of the winter to go, and it can easily just shut down. >> it is early. gurkey says in recent years it seems january has been relatively dry, a dry window that is stretched into february. he says depending on how long that window stretch, if it happens, that could make or break the snow pack come spring. in el dorado county, ken, ktvu channel news. the governor of pennsylvania outlined an antitrust suit today against the ncaa over its sanctions of penn state in the wake of the jerry sandusky scandal. >> i believe and our suit contends that the ncaa has no authority and operated outside of their own by laws with these sanctions that they brought. >> the govsher said the sandusky case was a criminal matter involving child sex abuse, not a violation of ncaa rules. the association levelled unprecedented sanctions against penn state. governor corbitt argue it had

sanctions have hurt citizens and businesses in pennsylvania. penn state itself is not part of the antitrust suit. house speaker john boehner came under fire today from both republicans and democrats for stall a vote on aid package for victims of hurricane sandy. new jersey governor chris christy, a republican whose state suffered billions of dollars in damage accused boehner of using disaster victims as political pawns. boehner later agreed to hold a vote friday to give funds to the national flood insurance program. the rest of the aid package is expected to come under consideration january 15th. freshman congressman eric from the bay area will be sworn in. smallwell got the keys to his new office this morning. the 32-year-old democrat represent it is newly-drawn 15th congressional district. small there's well auz alameda county's assistant district attorney before he unseat #20d-term veteran congressman speet stark in november. another freshman representative from the bay area

will be sworn in tomorrow. huffman won the seat of north bay congresswoman lynn who retired after 20 years in office. huffman is a former environmental attorney who served six years on the california state assembly. officials in the central valley say a helicopter pilot died today after her aircraft crashed. it happened about 6:00 this morning outside the city of delano in kurn county. the helicopter was one of three performing frost control by flying over a field to circulate warm air over the crops. one of the other pilots saw the accident and helped crews locate the wreckage. federal investigators will look into the cause of the crash. singing legend patty page has died. >> how much is that dog gi in the window. >> a traditional pop singer in the 1950s selling more than a hun million records during her career with hits including the one you heard heard how much sa dog gi in the window.

the 85-year-old singer died on new year's day in southern california. today justin bieber sent condolences to the family of a photographer. the family man was killed moments after taking pictures of the pop singer's ferrari after it was pulled over for speeding. the 29-year-old photographer was killed yesterday in los angeles while crossing the street taking photos. police warned him he was in an unsafe location. police also say bieber's friend was driving the ferrari. hopes of getting state money to fix a vulnerable levee before more rains hit tonight. john has the reasons for the urgency. >> at least two fallen trees, new slumping of this old earthen levee and damage to a city-maintained bridge all new worries today. >> serious damages so we're concerned about the entire rainy season. >> backed by graphs and photos, the city late today said it plans to ask sacramento for about $2 million in emergency

money. our cameras were there 10 days ago when the creek flooded the gardens neighborhood damaging seven homes. >> i've seen a lot of indifference from people who do not live there. the people who live there are concerned. >> we've exhausted our local and regional resources in addressing the immediate flood controls and the levee stabilization need sdmrs there's an emergency city council meeting tomorrow. we've also learned state officials may also be here, residents hoping the governor's staff gets the message. east palo alto health and science center john fowler, ktvu channel 2 news. biologists today lowered the water level on the american river in sacramento county as an ongoing effort. several dams and flood control projects block sediment that should flow down river. salomon use the sediment to bury their eggs so biologists placed tubes of eggs in varying depth of gravel. >> take them back and count what

survived and what didn't survive to compare survival between the different gravel patches. >> lowering the river today allowed the biologists to retrieve the egg, too. we've learned more about the man who was swept into the ocean at point reyes and died on new year's day. 59-year-old charles kwad of richmond was walking on the beach with his wife and their dog. witnesses said a large wave rolled in and caught them. authorities say qwade tried to rescue his dog and drowned in the effort. his body was recovered several hours later. you might call it a one of a kind california mission. how some of the state's most historic buildings are getting a state of the art makeover by a bay area company. and bundle up and get ready for another night of chilly temperatures. meteorologist mark will let us know where it's expected to drop into the 20s overnight. and if you're on the go or away from your television, you can still watch ktvu news casts live on your computer, smart phone or tablet. get the app or go to ktvu.com

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growing up, we didn't have u-verse. we couldn't record four shows at the same time. in my day, you were lucky if you could record two shows. and if mom was recording her dumb show and dad was recording his dumb show then, by george, that's all we watched. and we liked it! today's kids got it so good. [ male announcer ] get u-verse tv with a total home dvr included free for life. only $29 a month for six months. rethink possible. . a small rock slide on highway 17 stalled traffic through the santa cruz mountains today. this happened about 10:00 this morning between redwood estates and summit road on highway 17. caltran had to shut down one of the two lanes so crews could

clean up the mess. everything was back to normal about 2:00 this afternoon. meteorologist mark is here now well. eve been talking about how cold it was overnight. >> get ready. in fact, a few neighborhoods back down to the 20s. first thing thursday morning we're talking about very cold numbers and once again some frost to contend with. temptures dpin to recover, though, over the next few days. see that coming up in our five-day forecast. right now, though, first show you the temperatures from this morning and the neighborhoods that were in the 20s. just a sampling for santa rosa, livermore, fairfield and walnut creek. overnight tonight areas of frost once again and inland valleys temperatures dropping down in the upper 20s to low 30s. right now mostly clear skies. as we do come in tighter take a look at some of the current numbers across part of the bay area. notice lots of 40s already. this is during the 7:00 hour but look toward fairfield right now fairfield checking in 36 dprees. they're on track to reach the mid to upper 20s as we do head into the overnight hours. in fact, fairfield the forecast

low right around 27 degrees, upper 20s for santa rosa and napa, san francisco at 42 and san jose starting out the morning in the mid 30s. here we go. we're all cold tomorrow at 7:00. 20. white shade here especially out toward fairfield. 30s and 40s right around san francisco and right near the immediate shore line. into the afternoon hours, temperatures begin to recover and lots of 50s, widespread 50s and even a few neighborhoods little bit closer to 60 degrees. today, though, lots of sunshine look out toward it is bay. temperatures not so bad in the afternoon. high pressure still in command of our weather. as a result the storm track headed way up to our north so we still have a dry weather pattern. partly to mostly sunny skies. 53 to 60 dprees. here's our forecast model showing you this. thursday still lots of sunshine out there. maybe a few high clouds krozing the region thursday night and into friday and then into the weekend, stick up the cloud cover once again throughout the day on saturday and then by sat night and into sunday we do

introduce the chance of scattered rain showers. only chance for right now, we'll go ahead and iron out the details over the next few days. temperatures for tomorrow, lots of 50s out there. a nice recovery. look at santa cruz by the board walk, 62 degrees. here is a look ahead. your five-day forecast. friday looking okay. notice each morning a little bit warmer, so get rid of that extreme chill. by saturday night into sunday. maureen. >> all right. thank you very much. california's historic spanish missions will be preserved for history in a new way thanks to 3-d technology. the oakland-based nonprofit plans on scanning the century's old missions and making virtual 3d models out of them. the company said in the event of damage from fire and earthquakes provide a precise outline down to the millimeter and make reconstruction easier. thank you very much for trusting ktvu channel 2 news. we're going to see you the next time news breaks. i'm maureen naylor. our coverage continues with the 10:00 news to be the.

how people are dealing be the cold weather mark was just talking about and why the local plumber says the weather is bringing a boost in his business. we're always here for you on ktvu.com. tmz is up next here on tv 36. we hope you have a wonderful evening.